An Aunt of my cousin's wife has a safe full of guns and would like to "just get rid of them". I told her I was interested and would like to take a look at them. I asked her about them and she said her husband was an avid shooter (Trap, Rifle, Pistol) and hunter. He passed away and she just wants to get rid of them. She said "How about $50.00 each?".

Should I feel bad taking them off her hands at 50.00/each? Or, should I offer more for the higher grade guns?

Take the guns to a dealer see what he would give for them ! Then you do the same thing . Then cut the grass and shovel the snow for the rest of your life . See if she would want some work done in exchange for the guns . But still get them appraised by dealer .

Okay, Bob, I wouldn't do this for everybody, but I see you and your conscience is in a bind.

So.........I'll tell you what I'll do.

I'll give you say........$60.00 a gun, and that way, your widowed aunt should be very happy, and you should be happy too, as you don't have to worry about your conscience bothering you.

How's that for a deal???

Just kidding, let her know that some of those guns may be worth more than the $50.00 she wants for them, and tell her you'll get them appraised and even try to sell them at a fair market value if you cannot afford what they are worth.

How about if you offer the widow your services to sell the collection at fair value in exchange for you keeping one or two of the guns that you really like. This way you are not unfairly taking advantage of a person that is going through an emotionally difficult period and you will end up with a nice firearm or two. $50 per gun is not right and you will regret it if you do this.

If the widow needs the collection moved out right away go ahead and do this for her, give her the $50 per gun now and then send her the balance of the fair value as the collection is sold off.

Like others have said, do the honorable and honest thing and do the homework for her...get a blue book and do some research and offer to either buy the ones you want for a "fair" amount (about what a dealer would give, maybe a little more) or offer to sell them for her. If she still insists that she doesn't want the pain of dealing with them - (she may resent guns and her late husband's interest in them) - then buy them for what she wants then be prepared to go back later and share the profit with her if you sell any of them for more than $50. Best Regards, Ed

I was recently faced with a similar decision, except all guns (60) were offered at 50% of average retail. I picked the ones I was interested in (3) offered and paid 90% Blue Book retail for each. This was about twice what she was asking. One of the guns is in 85% condition, one at 90% and the last at 95%. I offered to take some to our club if she would price them and the rest will eventually go to Indiana Gun Club on consignment. The decision is yours, it's nice to get a deal, but I like to be able to sleep at night. By the way, I didn't know this lady.

Jeff: I agree with most of what the respondents say. Keep the ones you are interested in, (at a fair price for her and you), and then offer to sell the rest for her and give her the money. I don't know if this is a true story or not; when I lived in Florida a fellow shooter answered an ad in the local paper. It read that a gun cabinet was for sale for $125. He went to the residence and looked at the cabinet. It was a cheap particle board cabinet. He told the woman that the price seemed quite high. She said, "I really don't think so, as I feel the guns would be worth that"!! He said the cabinet had 6 guns in it. I am sure this individual, (if this did happen), was the type of person that would have taken advantage of this. (He was the type that would take advantage of anyone). Bottom line, if you do not act, someone like this is bound to come along and take advantage of her. Ed

At least their are only two scum sucking leaches that would take the deal so far. People should be ashamed of themselves.

Take the guns to a dealer and see what he would pay. The guns you like, pay her what the dealer offered then sell the rest to the dealer or float them around your local gun clubs for 20% higher than what the dealer offered.

Tell her not to do anything, Buy a recent gun values book and sit down with her. Go thru them. give her a fair value for the select guns you want. Then off the rest to favorite local dealer. There maybe issues of gun registry with some of these guns. Also maybe listed as assets. I think a good deal would be Market value less 20%